⛪ Saint of the Day : May 10
⛪ Memorial :
• 10 May
• 24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietna
⛪ Born :
• c.1813 in Gò Công, Biên Hòa, Vietnam
⛪ Died :
• Beheaded on 11 May 1847 in Cho Ðui, Dong Nai, Vietnam; it took three blows to kill him
St. Matthêô Lê Van Gam found his vocation as a layman. He, born circa 1813 in Gò Công, Biên Hòa, Vietnam, grew up in a Christian family. Our saint studied at the seminary at Lai Thieu, but left to assume his responsibilities as the firstborn son in his family. He married and became the father of four children, two of whom died because they were Christian. After an incident of infidelity our saint rededicated himself to his faith and to the Church, especially to assisting missionaries.
Emperor Nguyen Phuoc Toan (Thiêu Tri, reigned 1841-1847) persecuted Christians. In 1864 our saint came to the attention of authorities. He, a skilled sailor, was smuggling Christians out of the country. For example, in two separate trips, our saint smuggled a group of seminarians to Malaysia and a group of diocesan priests out of the kingdom. In July 1846 authorities arrested our saint, who bribed some soldiers successfully yet failed to escape imprisonment and frequent torture after he refused to desecrate a cross. On May 11, 1847, at Cho Ðui, Dong Nai, Vietnam, our saint died of beheading after three blows.
Pope Leo XIII declared our saint a Venerable in 1899 then a Blessed the following year. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
🌿 Saint Matthêô Lê Van Gam, Pray for us !
